Seeing that it is Father’s Day weekend, I thought I’d share my homemade steak spice mix. It is easy and quick to put together and has no additives that you can’t pronounce! Go ahead, make a batch and spice up Dad’s life with a nicely seasoned steak!

Ingredients:

4 tbsp. coarse sea salt (may use less if you like)

2 tbsp. ground black pepper

2 tbsp. onion powder

2 tbsp. onion flakes dehydrated

2 tbsp. garlic powder

1/2 -1 tbsp. of chili flakes (to taste)

1 tbsp. thyme leaves

1 tbsp. rosemary leaves or ground

1/2 tbsp. coriander or dried cilantro

Directions

Mix all together in a mason jar and give a good shake! Label it, you’re done!

Now that I am back on that WW wagon, I have been getting creative with my breakfasts! Here’s a favourite that fills you up, is healthy and only, drum roll please… 1 point! I know right? Truly it is delicious. I do both the stove top method and on busier days, I use the microwave! Here’s what I do:

Tomorrow I will be having the kids for dinner, and I thought I’d do up a little something for an appetizer, what to have, what to have? After a bit of browsing, I found a seafood concoction by the Barefoot Contessa which inspired me. I didn’t use her recipe but it inspired me none-the-less! Here’s what I did:

Ingredients:

1 kg of seafood ( I used calamari, shrimp, octopus and mussels, no shells)

2 tbsp. olive oil

2 lemons (zest and juice of 1 1/2 and slice the other half, very thing)

2-3 cloves garlic crushed

red pepper flakes to taste

1 tsp oregano

1/4 cup fresh parsley

1 tomato diced finely

salt and pepper to taste

Directions:

Cook the seafood as directed on package. I used frozen seafood and steamed it. You could poach it in white wine for a lovely taste as well.

Make your dressing with all the other ingredients except the sliced lemons.

Add the cooked and cooled seafood to the dressing in a large bowl. Let sit overnight.

Serve in chilled martini glasses or other fancy glass, garnished with a lemon slice or two and a basil or mint leaf. This should give you 6-8 appetizer servings@ 4 WW points each.

So this recipe was inspired by http://www.freshfitandhealthy.com but of course, I had to change it up a bit to suit my needs. But it sounded so good, I had to give it a go! Incidentally this can be used as a dip as well as a stuffing for your chicken. It is delicious! Here’s what I did:

Ingredients:

4 chicken breasts, boneless/skinless butterflied

2 avocadoes

1 can artichokes, drained

1/2 cup basil fresh

3 tbsp. pine nuts

1 tbsp. lemon juice

Spice mix:

1/2 tsp black pepper

1 tsp sea salt

1/2 tsp paprika

1 tbsp. basil, dry

1 tbsp. thyme leaves

1 tbsp. onion powder

1 tsp garlic powder

1 tsp chili flakes

Directions:

Season your chicken breasts with the spice mix, inside and out. don’t need to use it all.

In your food processor, toss in the avocado, artichokes, pine nuts, basil and lemon juice. Process till all well blended. It can be as chunky or smooth as you prefer. You can add a tsp of the seasoning while it’s working as well if you like.

Now take your butterflied chicken and stuff with the filling. Secure with a toothpick if need be.

If you have extra filling, serve it as an appetizer with veggies or crackers, or nachos.